


Carpe Diem

by ShaneVansen



Category: Haven - Fandom
Genre: Episode Tag, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, UST, early romance, post ep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-16
Updated: 2012-11-16
Packaged: 2017-11-18 18:41:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/564193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShaneVansen/pseuds/ShaneVansen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Audrey isn't going to waste what little time she has left. (<i>Magic Hour II</i> post-ep)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Carpe Diem

**Author's Note:**

> And once again, many thanks to December21st for betaing (in less than an hour, even, which is pretty amazing).
> 
> Lousy title is blamed on lack of time to post if I want this up before 3x09 airs and makes it AU, and a lack of title-related creativity. ;)
> 
> This fic wasn't intended as a sequel to [All's Fair](http://archiveofourown.org/works/562249), but it fits.

God, she's missed this – missed _him_ – so much. 

The last month has been hard on her and Audrey's known that the rift between her and Nathan played a part in it, but she had no idea how much the tension between them was weighing on her until they start talking again. It shouldn't be such a surprise, she thinks; after all, they were close even before the idea of moving beyond friendship became a possibility and she'd gotten used to being able to talk to him about anything. Of _course_ losing her primary support system was going to hurt. 

She knew that, thought she understood it, but it's only now that they're really talking again without all the pain and secrecy and resentment that she understands how very much she's missed him.

It took him dying (for the second time, she reminds herself, and this time almost permanently) to snap her out of her undeniable lunacy. She's been putting them both through hell for no reason, trying to protect him from herself only to realize that there are so many other things out there from which she'll never be able to save him. They're better together than they are apart, have been since practically the beginning of this whole adventure, and somehow she'd forgotten that.

It also took his death for her to know exactly how much she loves him, to know exactly how far she's willing to go to get him back, but he's still with Jordan and she's going to be gone in just over two weeks and so that's neither here nor there.

Being able to talk to him leaves her feeling lighter than she has in a long, long time. The day after Tommy dies in the boat explosion, the day after Nathan's party to celebrate his return from death, the day after she walks away from Nathan so he can be with Jordan and finally realizes that that's a pain she can live with, they find time away from work and she catches him up on everything she's learned, not just in Colorado but everything else she hasn't shared with him since she learned about the significance of the Hunter.

Somehow, that clears the air and almost puts them back to where they were before. They go out on calls together, share theories and information, joke around to break up the tension. She tests his coffee so he won't burn his tongue and he picks her up in the morning and drops her off at the end of the day, like they used to before everything got so screwed up. It's not exactly the same – she hasn't fooled herself into ignoring the obvious – but there's no question that it's better than it has been the past four weeks.

Over the next few days she finds herself touching him more, too, without meaning to. It's innocent really, just a brush of her hand down his arm as she passes by or her fingers glancing over his as they hand each other files, little touches meant to reassure her that he's alive and well and right here with her. It's only awkward when she remembers that he has Jordan now and that she really shouldn't be touching him at all, especially since she's the only one he can feel, but... but he keeps touching her, too, and standing too close, and Audrey doesn't know what to make of it all.

It's one of the many, many things that swirls through her head as she lies awake at night, trying to sleep, until she decides that she has enough to worry about (like finding her _son_ , and how amazing and mind-blowing and terrifying is _that_?) without borrowing trouble, and Audrey deliberately puts that particular issue out of her mind. 

She has her best friend back. Just days ago, that would have been more than she could have hoped for; given how few days as she has left, she's more than happy with what she's got.

***

"Hey." Audrey drops tiredly onto the bench next to Nathan, following his gaze out across the water, her fingers tapping out an irregular pattern against her knee as her brain works through what her next steps will be.

From the corner of her eye she sees him turn to face her. "No luck?" he asks, sounding like he already knows the answer.

She sighs. "Nope. And we're running out of time."

"We'll figure it out." He bumps his shoulder gently against hers. "We always do, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. It's just, it's a lot harder when it's so personal, you know?"

"Yeah," he murmurs. "I know."

They lapse into quiet, both watching the handful of boats in the cove. This is the bench where Nathan first told her about the Troubles, she remembers, one leg bouncing restlessly. Who would have guessed that a childhood story about breaking his arm while sledding would lead them here?

This town, she thinks. Its secrets and quirks and outright lies... it's enough to drive a person crazy.

"I need coffee," she decides aloud, tilting her head back to stare up at the cloudless sky. She'd actually prefer something a lot stronger than coffee but there's a lot of work still to be done, and she needs to be awake and alert for a while yet. 

Besides, she's technically still on duty.

Nathan raps a knuckle against her still-bouncing leg. "Decaf, maybe."

"Funny," she says, smacking the back of her hand lightly against his chest and grinning when he captures it in both of his, like she's going to do actual damage.

Her smile fades, though, when, instead of releasing her hand like she expects, he puts it palm-down on top of his thigh and covers it with his own.

"Nathan?" Her voice comes out higher than usual, unsteady, betraying her confusion.

"Parker," he returns, calm as can be, watching the people out on the water.

Audrey fumbles for the question she wants to ask, halfway wanting to smack him again, only this time a whole lot harder. She eventually settles on "Jordan—" but doesn't get any further when he interrupts with, "Is gone."

It hurts a little that he hasn't told her before now, but in a way she gets it. There's been so much information to catch up on and track down lately that she understands how he might want to sit on this for a few days and deal with it himself first before throwing her another curveball. "What happened?" she asks quietly.

His shoulders roll in a shrug, his hand tightening over hers for a second. "Turns out I'm better at fooling myself than I am others."

"Oh." Audrey doesn't know what to say to that. In spite of everything she liked Jordan and knows that Nathan cared for her, but there's something undeniably like hope fluttering in her chest.

After a moment she decides that maybe she doesn't need to say anything. She flips the hand on his leg around so that they're palm to palm, fingers linking together, and then slides across the short distance separating them on the bench so that she's pressed tight against his side. When he squeezes her hand, she rests her head against his shoulder and lets her eyes drift closed.

The Hunter arrives in a little over sixteen days. They're working against a pretty definite deadline and there's still so much to do to try to beat the odds, but for the first time in a month Audrey feels the weight of that knowledge lift, just a little.

There's a lot she could be doing – that she _should_ be doing. Right now, though, Audrey's going to sit here, holding Nathan's hand, and just enjoy the moment.

_\--end--_


End file.
